Diversify your choices

With a desire to diversify their options in the global economic arena, more and more Southeast Asian countries are looking to join the BRICS group of emerging economies.

Thailand has submitted a formal request to join BRICS, the country's foreign ministry said on Tuesday. If approved, Thailand would become the first Southeast Asian country to join the bloc led by Russia and China.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said his country has decided to join BRICS and will soon carry out the formal procedures. Meanwhile, the Indonesian government, Retno Marsudi, is still studying the benefits that can be achieved by joining BRICS. Other countries such as Myanmar and Laos have expressed interest in joining BRICS.

Commenting on this trend, Dr. Joseph Liow, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), emphasized that becoming a member of the “common house” BRICS will bring benefits in many aspects, including enhancing the role in the international arena and increasing the opportunity to jointly create a new world order. This is part of the calculation of Southeast Asian countries about national interests.

Meanwhile, Dr. Alan Chong, Senior Fellow at Singapore’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, described BRICS as “an alternative leadership circle when it comes to global governance.” Citing Malaysia’s interest in joining BRICS, Mr. Alan Chong said it could be a way to enhance the country’s foreign policy in a very unique way.

BRICS was founded in 2006, initially comprising Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa joined the bloc in 2010. Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) became new members of the bloc on January 1, 2024. Together, the economies of BRICS members are worth more than $28.5 trillion, accounting for about 28% of the global economy.

According to Bloomberg, in the context of increasing US-China competition, joining BRICS is an effort to reduce economic risks. After this year's expansion, BRICS plans to invite non-member countries to attend the next summit of the bloc in Kazan (Russia) in October.

THANH HANG

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/da-dang-hoa-lua-chon-post745859.html